Having led Sacramento Republic FC to three consecutive berths in the USL Cup Playoffs, including finishing first in the Western Conference in the 2016 season regular season, one of the surprises of the 2018 USL Championship campaign arrived just over a month before the season began.

Last February 1, Republic FC announced that Technical Director and Head Coach Paul Buckle had departed the club and Simon Elliott had been appointed as the third Head Coach in Sacramento’s history.

A little more than a year on, Buckle is now an assistant coach for Premier League side Southampton FC’s U-23 side that competes in the Premier League 2.

We caught up recently with Buckle for a conversation about the experience of learning in his new surroundings, what he enjoyed most about his time at Republic FC and whether he’d be open to a return to coaching in the United States in the future.

On Life at Southampton FC

USL: Joining the coaching staff at Southampton, what’s been the most eye-opening thing for you about how they go about their day-to-day business?

Paul Buckle: I think the most eye-opening thing is how many people work at the club and how well organized it is. We probably have something like over 400 people that work at Southampton Football Club. The second thing is how well organized it is and the relationships between everybody from the First Team level all the way down to the Academy and the club. There are so many different roles at a Premier League club, and I think Southampton is an amazing club because everybody knows each other. So, that’s the first thing that’s been absolutely eye-opening.

USL: The reputation the club has is one that does a lot of in-depth work with data analysis and player analysis. Does that speak to the technology that’s available to you guys on an individual one-to-one level to get the most out of the players at your disposal?

Also, the sessions are well planned out, we have a fantastic curriculum. You would’ve heard the Southampton way, it’s very true, we stick to it. Our principles and our values are very much aligned there in the club. Certainly, it’s changed the way I think and go about things in my career. That’s been fantastic, and not only for the players to develop, but also as a coach to develop because you get to see your sessions straight after you finish training, you go up to the office onto the laptop and your session is there to look at. Your session is there, the 18s session is there, the First Team session is there to look at so you can self-evaluate. You’re not only evaluating the players all the time, but you can evaluate yourself. That’s a brilliant, brilliant resource.

USL: You’re working with the U-23s, you’re in contention for promotion from the PL2 Division 2 up to Division 1, it looks like you’ve got a good fight going on with Wolves at the top of the standings right now, what’s it been like to oversee those teams, not just try to push those players on to the next level, push them onto the First Team, but have success on the field as your own group?

PB: I think that to understand the model at the 23s level, it’s not about winning. Now of course, we want to win, when you win games, at times you can look at it and those games and say we’ve won because we did A, B, and C right. But the objective, the clear objective, is to get the players into the First Team and ultimately stay there. As an example, we played Villareal B, in the Quarterfinal of the Premier League International Cup and we’ve won that 2-1. The next game against Wolves away, we had six changes for the team. That doesn’t happen where you are in an environment where you are going to try to win. No teams are making six changes in a week. We are because players are going up, big success in [the Villarreal] game, players did well, they go to the First Team, we have the younger players come up.

We sometimes have some of the First Team players come down, players that need to play minutes that have not played for a while. You can’t get any continuity in terms of the same team every week, it changes every single game and rightly so and for us, that’s success. The one thing that doesn’t change is the way we go about things, the message to the players, the system of play – obviously we follow what the gaffer is doing in the First Team, we play 3-4-3, we high press – so all those things don’t change. But ultimately, we are doing very well to be where we are, considering we have so many that go up to the First Team, we are delighted to be up there challenging, we are delighted to be in the Semifinal of the Premier League International Cup, but ultimately the goal is getting players through to the First Team.

When I’ve come to the United States, I sort of started again. That’s no disrespect to Met Oval, but I went to Met Oval and I learned, I learned about America, the culture, the system and had 18 great months there. Then Sacramento was my first challenge as a Manager and Technical Director of a brilliant USL club, and I am very proud of the three seasons there. Taking the American Pro license there I’m nudging again towards on how to improve. Didn’t need to do it but wanted to do it.

This was the next step for me; the next part was trying to improve on that, and I think this is a step up again because coming in and seeing how a manager does things at a Premier League-level, there to watch all of the home games in the Premier League, watching Tottenham come, watching us come from behind against Spurs, playing against Manchester United in the 23s, playing against Wolves, playing against Villarreal, playing against Fulham, these are all new challenges for me, and it’s are a great learning environment for me. So, when I come back to the States, I am going to be a better coach. I think that’s what I’ve always tried to be.

On His Time with Sacramento Republic FC

USL: What did you take away from your time with Republic FC?

PB: Too many things to probably explain in this interview. Fantastic, absolutely top-class experience, because Sacramento Republic is a first-class organization, that’s for sure. You know understanding the culture, trying to continue the success of the club which I’m pleased to say we played a part in that in terms of the Western Conference. But for me mainly it was the first time working outside of the U.K., I think that takes you massively outside of your comfort zone, to try and implement your thoughts, your beliefs you know especially on development. Working with the academy, working with the First Team, bringing that together was very, very new for me. But the biggest thing I suppose was the different nationalities, the different cultures, working with Serbian lads, the Colombian lads, Mexicans, Americans, English, Irish, you know that’s pretty rare, so that was fantastic. The people of Sacramento, and the staff, was an amazing experience for me.

USL: Despite not being with the club last season was it still gratifying to see the team have another successful year, and guys like Roberto Hategan, Quincy Butler now start to emerge from the Academy and vie for First Team minutes?

PB: Absolutely amazing, because you know it’s no secret, I stayed at Sacramento right through the process of recruitment, so I was a part of that recruitment process. I worked hard looking at the players and bringing the right players in, and I think that was proven. The guys that are in charge now have done an amazing job. I think I left the club in good health, in terms of if you look back on it, for me I was always going to stay as Head Coach for around for three seasons, that was always my goal, because I think by then it was healthy to have the change. Healthy for me and healthy for the club and that was what I always set out to do. 

PB: I chose to take a rest, it’s the first that I’ve had in many, many years, and I would recommend it to coaches, you know. I think you have time to reflect, I did a lot of reflecting, I spent time with my family, I realized the pressure it puts your family under when you are a head coach. We went full on with it, it’s a full-on job and you have to commit to it. So, I spent a lot of my time with my family, I spent a lot of time thinking about the next challenge, because that’s who I am, you know what do I want next? What does it look like? Yeah, I really enjoyed that time, but I was certainly ready for the next challenge.

This is the greatest thing about football, I’d never said it would’ve been back to the U.K. but it sort-of just fit perfectly to come and do this after having a good break.

USL: It sounds like you would like to lead a club again in the United States. Is that correct?

PB: Why not? It’s home. It’s home for us. We always came to California and to America to stay. We didn’t go there thinking this is going to be a short-term project or put some numbers on the years, we came to stay, and we came to be a success. Obviously with Rebecca and her job [Editor’s Note: Buckle is married to NBC Sports host Rebecca Lowe] and the satisfaction she’s getting from that, the challenge for me was come to America and start again. I’ve enjoyed that, that’s been a huge challenge for me, and now I feel more equipped to lead, as a head coach as a technical director, and you know with the growth of the game in America – especially in the USL Championship and League One thanks to the great work Jake Edwards and his team there are doing – it could be a good combination moving forward, so I’m always open. I loved my time with the Republic, and if the right opportunity comes, you know, who knows?